Society Proceedings. BRAINARD DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY. [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 433.] DR. SERVOSS discussed the "Use of Electricity by the Country Doctor." We find Faradic electricity in quite common use, but the galvanic current is little used except by those who have a large cabinet apparatus. The current is a valuable remedy, and should be in more common The great trouble has been to find an apparatus at reasonable price, which is portable and manageable. In the Mesco cells I have found what I need As many as needed can be readily carried in an ordinary satchel; they can be connected with a controller and milliamperemeter, and a full equipment of attachments may be secured, and the whole need not cost more than $50. The general practitioner has not time to be a specialist in all lines, but it will be every way profitable to take up each year some line of work and give special study to that. In this way I took up electricity, and have found it not only interesting, but helpful, professionally and financially. DISCUSSION. DR. HOLE had not found these cells lasting. DR. DIEFFENBACHER had been disappointed in the Mesco cells, and had found a McIntosh battery the most certain in results. DR. BLACK has no experience in the dry cells, but has used a battery of 36 "Axo" cells, which in nine years of frequent use have required renewal perhaps three times. DR. SERVOSS had had much difficulty with wet cells, but found these dry cells always ready and portable. They are very cheap, and he had found them containing the amount of electricity claimed. A great deal depends upon the way they are used. He found that as he became more accustomed to their use the cells lasted longer, showing that at first he had wasted the current. DR. IRVING NEWCOMER being unable to be present, had sent his "Re port of a Case of Cretinism," which was read by the Secretary. A girl, aged seven, was brought to my office February 28 last. The parents stated that they had not noticed any peculiarity in the child till she was about two years old, when she seemed less bright than their other children. A physician made a diagnosis of some spinal disease, but no treatment was given. When I saw her she was a light complexioned child with a large head, broad face with full lips and slightly protruding tongue, prominent cheeks, a short thick neck, stunted body, coarse hair and skin dry and marked with subcutaneous swellings. She had been constipated since birth, and in the winter her skin became fissured. She understood but little, and uttered only a few labial sounds. Zinc ointment was applied to inflamed surfaces and thyroid extract given internally, gr. 2%, twice daily. On March 9th the parents reported a marked improvement in every way. The bowels had become too loose, so the dose of thyroid was decreased. The improvement had continued up to March 28th, since which date I have not heard from her. DISCUSSION. DR. BARNETT.-Some of those present will recall that last year at Lincoln I presented a case of sporadic cretinism. The diagnosis of even typical cases is not easy during the first two or three years, though it is probable that signs really exist at birth. Cretinoid cases are particularly misleading. In my case we begun with gr. 2 three times a day, and gradually increased the dose to gr. 20 daily. Diarrhea and rapid pulse occurred and the dose was reduced to gr. 12 daily, where it has been held for a year The girl is now about 15. She can walk by holding a chair, is 39% inches tall, and weighs 48 lbs. Her hair has become fine and smooth. Her tongue protrudes but slightly. Her abdomen is less prominent. The true cretin is a congenital condition, while the cretinoid cases have at first a close resemblance to the normal condition. The true cretin has a very low mentality. The case at Lincoln has gained much in control of the muscles, and now recognizes those she sees often. The thyroid gland is absent. Their rarity makes all the cases interesting. The etiology is obscure. Some think alcoholism is the cause, but it is difficult to be accurate about such a question. DR. BLACK.-Alcoholism is perhaps the most common cause of all the degenerations, and would likely be a factor in cretinism. As to what is an excessive use of alcohol opinions differ widely; e. g., an M. D. spoke of a patient as not using it to excess when he was known to take at least the equivalent of a quart a week of alcohol. Dr. Servoss. As to the use of thyroid in goitre, some remarkable results have been obtained, but these results are not permanent, and the treatment must be kept up, as we would expect, if the symptoms are due to the absence of the thyroid primarily, or to the loss of function of the gland. The effect on two dogs with which it was used was very good. DR. HOLE presented a report of "Cases of Albuminuria." One of the cases reported was unique in the extreme slowness of the pulse during the attack. (The Secretary failed to secure this paper.) DISCUSSION. DR. HURST had never seen a case of scarlet fever with a pulse below normal. Mild cases are the most dangerous to the community, for they are neglected and scatter the disease. Nothing is superior to Basham's mixture for albuminuria, both acute and chronic. This trouble is often discovered only when the patient consults us for some other difficulty. Called to prescribe for a malarial attack I noticed the peculiar color of the lips. The temperature was 102°, there was slight ascites and oedema and much lassitude. Returning on the fourth day the patient reported himself better. On securing a specimen of the urine it showed clearly that Bright's disease was well advanced. It is possible that the slow pulse in the case reported may have been due to bile retained in the system. DR. BLACK.-As to the slow pulse-a man had his leg so crushed as to require amputation. His pulse ranged from 40 to 50, and increased to 65 or 68, as he improved. Several years before he had had pneumonia, and had a pulse from 40 to 50. The exact cause is obscure. DR. BARNETT had had a case of slow pulse in a boy recovering from a severe attack of malarial fever, in which the temperature had reached 107°. As the temperature fell on the fourteenth day of the disease the pulse became very slow, but increased as convalescence advanced. DR. MILLER reported a case of hemorrhage of the right kidney with symptoms at first suggesting gall stones, but soon rendered clear by the passage of a copious amount of blood from the bladder. On the second day of the hemorrhage a clot, conical in outline, about three inches long, one inch wide at the base and one-fourth inch thick was passed with much straining. Blood ceased to be visible in the urine in about four days. DR. BLACK reported a case of gunshot wound of the spine causing paralysis of the right leg and paresis of the left leg. A 22-caliber bullet went through the first lumbar vertebra. He suffered intensely, and large doses of morphia failed to secure sleep. On the ninth day an incision was made over the vertebræ The laminæ of the first lumbar and last dorsal vertebræ were crushed and a flake of cancellous tissue crowded against the cord. The dura did not appear to be torn. Spicules of bone were removed; relief from pain followed and the hyperesthesia, which had been great, was much better. In forty-eight hours he recovered the use of the left leg. Now he cannot keep still, wants to move all the time, but the spinal irritation is gradually growing less, and the bladder acts voluntarily. A great amount of serum draining away keeps the wound open. What will be the ultimate result is uncertain. One and a half inches of the cord were exposed. He sleeps some under 120 grs. of bromide and 25 to 50 gr. of chloral daily. He is also taking ounce doses of castor oil as a spinal sedative. On motion, it was decided to hold the next meeting at Mason City, and to leave all other details to the Committee on Program. On motion, Society adjourned. KATHARINE MILLER, Secretary. Acute Intestinal Catarrh.-Professor Ewald (Med. News) prescribes the following in obstinate cases: B Resorcin..... Bismuth salicylate... Tannigen.... White sugar. Sodium carbonate.... 75 grains aa 1⁄2 ounce ... ..aa 2 drachms. M. ft. pulv. Sig.: Small teaspoonful every two hours. Reports on Progress. COMPRISING THE REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS OF THE FORTNIGHTLY DEPARTMENT STAFF. Nephrolithiasis, with Notes of a Case, by Vinnedge (Cincinnati LancetClinic).-Vinnedge reports a case of nephrolithiasis where there was a calcification of nearly the whole kidney. He was unable to obtain a good clinical history of the case, so that the main interest centered in the pathology. He further states that the usual physiologic compensatory hypertrophy of the sound kidney followed Operative Treatment of Prostatic Hypertrophy, by Steinter (Centralb. f. d. Frankh. d. Harn u Sex. Org., Nos. 1 and 2, Vol. xi, 1898).- Six cases are reported by the author, one by vasectomy and five by bilateral orchidectomy. The patient upon whom vasectomy was performed subsequently died of some other trouble without ever having received any benefit from the operation. Amelioration followed in only one case treated by castration. Seven Cases of Prostatic Hypertrophy Treated by Vasectomy, by Bucalossi (Il Policlinico Annales d. mal. d. org. g. u.) -The author has written a report of seven cases where vasectomy was performed for the relief of prostatic overgrowth, and in six cases he claims to have achieved what he calls "good" results. He fails to define what "good" means in this particular instance, whether it be notable decrease in the size of the enlarged prostatic gland or not. He says, moreover, that his operation of vasectomy is only to be performed where the genital function is definitely known to be abolished. Uretero-Ventral Fistula, by Seiffart (Centrbl. f. Gynec. Annales des. mal. des org. g. u.). During the operation for removal of an extensive tumor of the broad ligament, the author cut out a large cord, which was taken to be a fibrous appendage of the tumor, and was resected for a distance of about four centimeters. It was then discovered that this fibrous cord was the ureter. After the removal of the tumor, the operator performed an end-to-end anastomosis of the two cut ends of the ureter. At first the urine escaped through the abdominal wound, but with the complete cicatrization of the wound, the continuity of the ureter was re-established and urine once more found its way through this ureter into the bladder. Cure was effected in about six weeks. The Treatment of Posterior Urethritis, by Ravogli (The Medical and Surgical Monitor).-The author recommends the use of a "recurrent catheter" in the treatment of posterior urethritis, whereby the whole surface of the posterior urethra is irrigated, and the pain and uncomfortable sensation ordinarily produced by irrigation, according to the Janet method, is avoided. By the use of a recurrent cathether, such as Ravogli has devised, the posterior or recurrent branch of the catheter receives the fluid before it has had time to distend the urethra or the bladder. The principles of the treatment of posterior urethritis may be recapitulated as follows: First. Irrigation by the Janet method in a recent case of gonorrhea will in many cases prevent posterior urethritis. Second. Irrigations with the recurrent catheter, with permanganate of potassium, followed by injections of protargol, will cure in a relatively short time a case of subacute posterior urethritis without complications. Third. When chronic posterior urethritis existing for a long time has caused infiltration of the submucous tissue, the application of a sound with ichthyol salve gives the desired results. Closure of the Abdominal Incision after Laparotomy and the Tendency to Hernia. In the course of time, abdominal operators have reached a proficiency in technique and an assurance in the application of the details of asepsis that have made laparotomy a comparatively facile and safe procedure. There has however remained an objection not foreseen at first, but ever becoming more insistently prominent as the number of abdominal operations increased. Despite the most anxious care and most solicitous technique ventral herniæ occur at the site of the abdominal incision, and often make life miserable for the patient. The frequency of the occurrence of hernia has become one of the great sources of opprobrium to modern abdominal surgery, and it is not unusual to have patients who do not fear the result of the operation itself hesitate to undergo it, because of the fear of the subsequent hernia that they have learned to dread from the experience of friends or acquaintances. The review of the recent results of postoperational hernia by Dr. John G. Clark of Johns Hopkins Hospital, in the recent number of Progressive Medicine shows that a number of factors which have usually been considered as influencing the production of hernia |